Food – Page 4 – Naturally Lindsay

PDX Eats | Vegan Brunch at TeSóAria

June 12, 2016 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

I absolutely love a nice glass of wine and if you pair that with vegan eats I’ll likely be your best friend. So, when I was invited to TeSóAria for their vegan brunch I just couldn’t say no. I didn’t know anything about TeSóAria before my visit besides that they have a tasting room in North Portland and the vineyard is in Roseburg.

I arrived at the tasting room and was instantly impressed by the space. It’s bright and inviting and has these big beautiful windows that let in so much light and open during the summer. Can’t you just picture it sitting either at one of their outside tables or inside with the windows open and a nice glass of wine? Okay, so basically I am planning Neil and my next date night.

Anyways I found my seat and took a look at the menu which feature four courses with two wine pairings for each course. We settled in with a bit of wine to start and of course I can’t remember what it was but it was white, crisp, slightly sweet and a great way to start the brunch.

Once everyone had arrived it was (finally) time to start eating and drinking! Founder and Winemaker, John Olson, started us off with a nice welcome and then got right into explaining the wines he had chosen for our first course. Since I know very little about wine, basically I know what I like when I taste it, it was nice to hear the back story of each wine and John did an amazing job of making it fun and interesting while also informative. John explained each pour of wine at the start of each course and I felt like I left knowing so much more about wine.

Now we will get into the food because let’s be honest I might not be a wine connoisseur but I do know vegan food.

Then it was time for our first course which was this beautiful salad. I have to say I was a bit skeptical because I’m just not one of those people who likes fruit in my salad but the roasted apricot vinaigrette was actually pretty amazing. My only gripe with this dish is that it was a bit over dressed but if it had about half of the vinaigrette on it (or twice the greens) I would definitely order this again because it tasted amazing.

Next up we have this beautiful dish that features peppers stuffed with cashew cheese and a tabbouleh. I know you’re thinking cashew cheese?!? Yes it was as good as it sounds. This dish was easily one of the top favorites at our table and I have to agree.

Our last savory dish was a cassoulet featuring a variety of beans and mushrooms, grilled fava beans and a chickpea crouton. I thought that the flavor of this dish was spot on but it honestly was my least favorite (but still incredibly flavorful and delicious) of everything we ate. I love the beans and mushrooms but I’m not big on fava beans that are still in the pod, they have a bit of a strange mouth feel and are a bit tough to eat. The chickpea crouton was good but I think with all that beautiful broth hanging out at the bottom of my bowl I would have loved a bigger crouton to sop it all up or a nice piece of bread.

The last course we had was this incredible rosemary shortcake. I could have eaten five plates (or more) of this because it was just amazing. It was sweet and savory and a little bit tart. I just couldn’t get enough and if I had been at home I would have licked the plate.

Overall I had an amazing experience and I hope they host this event again because I would love to do it again. The food was really great and the wine was incredible. It isn’t often that you find an amazing wine bar that also has really delicious and fun vegan options.

I also am looking forward to trying TeSóAria’s Vegan Thursdays, called “Shut Up and Eat Your Vegetables!” starting this coming Thursday, June 16th from 5pm on at The Portland Tasting Room.

Every Thursday, Chef Max will have a Seasonal Vegan Tapas Menu available to pair with our award winning Wines! Vegan Tapenade, Mezze Boards, Samosa’s, and more, priced $4 to $12. Available every Thursday starting at 5pm.

What is your favorite wine? Which of the four courses do you think you would enjoy the most?

Check out these other bloggers thoughts on this wonderful brunch!

Pechluck’s Food Adventures

#SummerStrong | Eating Simply & Healthfully | Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner (Ideas)

June 10, 2016 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

Bob’s Red Mill and FitApproach sponsored this post. All opinions are my own.

One of my goals for this month is to focus on eating much more simple meals. Simple breakfasts, simple lunches and simple dinners with a few more fun and complex meals throw in on the weekends. Simple, yet tasty, satisfying and nutritious. Simple Meals filled with fruits, vegetables, whole grains and plant-based protein.

For breakfast I flop between savory and sweet but whichever I choose I always go for something easy because this mama doesn’t have time to mess around at breakfast. For savory breakfast I love avocado on toast with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of chili flakes or a big bowl of grains with sauteed baby spinach and a sprinkle of tamari and nutritional yeast. When it comes to sweet you’ll most likely find me with a smoothie in hand or in a bowl topped with whatever we have on hand. Lately I have been loving smoothie bowls with frozen bananas, a splash of almond milk, sometimes the rest of my coffee that has gone cold and a scoop Bob’s Red Mill Chocolate Protein Powder (yes, I know I was surprised when I found out they made protein powders too!). I like to top it with more banana, some granola, coconut flakes and drizzle of agave. This smoothie bowl leaves me feeling energized, full and satisfies me until lunch time rolls around.

As for lunch and dinner I like to keep it super simple – basically beans, greens and grains. I know you might be reading this and thinking well that sounds awfully boring. Well it does sound boring and can be but the key is to make it more fun with sauces and add-on’s that personalize your meal and make it more tasty.

For us beans, greens and grains meals will be happening most Monday-Thursday because those are some of our busiest days of the week. It allows us to it simply, healthfully and easily. It also helps to prevent us from turning to takeout on those nights when we just don’t feel like putting something together or are out late. I simply am making up a batch of grains and serving with whatever greens and vegetables that look great along with a plant-based whole foods protein. So how am I jazzing things up? Well that’s when we break out the sauces from tahini to coconut aminos to hot sauces and barbecue sauces. I also love the addition of various fermented veggies (kraut, kimchi, ect). I also love adding avocado, hemp seeds and nutritional yeast to top things off.;

On the weekends we might jazz things up a bit more and have meals that take longer to prepare or even eat out. We often like to make pancakes and tofu scramble on the weekends for breakfast but honestly you’ll probably find us having the smoothie bowl I listed about because;it’s one of Neil’s favorite breakfasts. Lunch and dinner are usually a little more wild if we are in the mood or sometimes we just keep it simple.

Keeping things simple helps us to eat healthier, have less cravings, and more energy.

What are you go to weekday and weekend meals? How do you feel about the smoothie bowl? I’ll be honest when smoothie bowls first because a thing I was all like WTF but now I’m obsessed. If you are also a lover of them and are in PDX you must go to Kure and get one because they have the best smoothie bowls ever.

Our Bend Getaway | Part 2 | Smith Rock State Park & Crux Fermentation Project

May 18, 2016 by Lindsay Ingalls 5 Comments

Day 3.

We started day three in bend at Backporch Coffee where I picked up this really good bottle of cold brew.

Once we were fully caffeinated we made our way out to Smith Rock State park because we all needed to finally see Monkey Face after reading about it at least a million times in Goodnight Oregon.

We got to Smith Rock State Park and it was actually quite packed with hikers, rock climbers and fellow sightseers. While I would have liked to have gone for a hike my parents were with us and they are not the hiking types. That didn’t stop us from finding a flat path to walk around although I spent most of my time holding my breath as I watched people (both big and super little) propelling themselves off the side of the rock cliffs. When I wasn’t holding my breath I was telling Neil to step away from the edge. Something I never thought I would have to say because he used to be petrified of heights and ledges. Looking back it was quiet a stressful visit! [you can find more photos here.]

After Smith Rock State Park we dropped the kids back off at the house with the grandparents and we made a break for it. We debated a few places to go and settled on Crux were we sampled a number of beers and loaded up on amazing vegan food.

We had some seriously amazing food and then headed downtown to walk around and find more coffee before heading back to our littles.

This was our third and last full day in Bend. The following day was pretty dull and basically started with breakfast, more Backporch Coffee and ended with us driving home with a few quick stops including Rowena Crest where we saw the amazing view below.

We are looking forward to our next trip to Bend and of course there is so much we didn’t do or see. What are your favorite things about Bend?

Food Find Friday | Thrive Market Haul

April 22, 2016 by Lindsay Ingalls 10 Comments

[This post is not sponsored – I am not working with Thrive Market just sharing the love.]

I know I have been a little absent when it comes to post but let me tell you they are coming while we wait to get back to our regularly scheduled posting why not be nosey and see what I bought on Thrive Market? I have to say one of my favorite types of post to read and YouTube videos to watch are food hauls. I love to see what people spend their money on and if there are new things I just might need to try.

This order was a bit of random one filled with a few staples and a few fun things. Let’s start with the boring things first like the aluminum foil and compost bags. I also was sent a free deodorant which is pretty cool minus the fact that it’s floral scented and that’s just not my thing. I’ll probably toss it in my gym bag as a backup.

Next it’s a few essentials that I just have to have in my kitchen at all times. While I love things like tamari and soy sauce I am over the moon about coconut aminos. It’s sweet and salty and just perfect on rice or over stir fried veggies. Ume Plum Vinegar is another staple that I use in almost every single sauce or soup that I make; it’s like magic it helps to balance all of the flavors. Lastly, nutritional yeast or nooch as I like to call it. Honestly this bottle will make last us a week but the price was right on Thrive Market so I bought it until I stock up in the bulk section at our local co-op.

Now on to the really good stuff the snacks and fun pantry items. I picked up a few different cookies from GOODBITES and some crackers as well. I’ll report back on how they are once I give them a try. Then there is some applesauce and Harvest Snaps for my littles and some Chaga for me.

Oh and then there is the pasta. I absolutely love Tolerant but a box of red lentil rotini goes for $8-9 most places so I never buy it but again the price was right and it was even better for the shells and macaroni. I also picked up a few cans of my favorited refried beans because I just can’t live without them.

I feel like I have talked about the above two items in a previous post but if I haven’t they are so delicious. Again another super expensive item, I think I saw them for almost $9 a box at Whole Foods, so I was thrilled to find them for around $6.50 on Thrive Market.

A few more snacks for my littles, these Ruby Rocket’s vegan yogurt tubes. I have no idea if they will like them but here’s hoping because I bought all three flavors. We love the Ruby Rocket’s popsicles so I am betting there are equally as good.

Lastly it’s all about the good stuff aka the chocolate! I know this seems a little excessive but Thrive Market was doing a chocolate package deal for these six chocolates so I said yes please and added it to my cart. I mean someone needs to fuel our family chocolate addiction right?

I have to say I am usually a Vitacost person but decided to give Thrive Market a try and I am super impressed with their selection. If you want to try it out for yourself just copy and paste this [affiliate] link http://thrv.me/naturallyfamily to get 15% off your first order.

Do you shop Thrive Market? What items are you loving?

Food Find Friday | #hempproteinsmoothie

March 25, 2016 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

Hemp seeds are these crazy little things that taste amazing and are so versatile and they are incredibly nutritious. We have been eating them for years at our house so of course when Manitoba Harvest came out with their new Hemp Protein Smoothie I jumped at the opportunity to try it.

I have tried Manitoba Harvest‘s HempPro 70 in the past and I really like it for a protein to add to my smoothies when all I want is protein and omega’s. However sometimes you want a little bit of flavor and sweetener and even maybe even a few greens and that is where the new Hemp Protein Smoothies are a great option.

The Manitoba Harvest Hemp Protein Smoothie powder combines their HempPro 70 with coconut sugar <– love this because most protein powders either use cane sugar or stevia and I personally prefer coconut sugar, a greens blend which includes organic spinach, organic kale and organic broccoli and either chocolate, berry or chai flavoring. Each 30 gram serving has 15 grams of plant-based protein.

These smoothies are super easy to because you can simply mix them in your shaker cup with some of your favorite non-dairy milk perfect for a quick post workout shake or mid-day pick me up or you can add it to your blender with some non-dairy milk, frozen fruit of your choice and any other of your favorite smoothie add-ins such as coconut or chia seeds or nut butters. For me I’m all about the chocolate Hemp Protein Smoothie because I just love a chocolate peanut butter and banana smoothie – it’s basically like a healthier milk shake.

What flavor would you like to try? What’s your favorite smoothie combo?

This post was sponsored by Fit Approach on behalf of Manitoba Harvest. All opinions as always are my own.
15% off Hemp Protein Smoothie. Promo code:hempsmoothielaunch16 (good until April 30, 2016)

Portland Dining Adventures | Farm Spirit

February 29, 2016 by Lindsay Ingalls 4 Comments

Date nights have become a regular occurrence for us lately because frankly they are incredibly important. However, most of our date nights are pretty casual and sometimes they even involve running a few child-free errands. But, our last date night was one that was far from a casual affair. It was free of phones (except to snap a few photos for you), errands and our beloved children.

We were kindly invited to attend one of Farm Spirit‘s multiple course dinner seatings. Farm Spirit is the brainchild of Chef Aaron Adams, formerly of Portland vegans’ favorite, Portobello Vegan Trattoria. The restaurant focuses on thoughtful courses with the seasonal ingredients sourced almost entirely from the Cascadia region in the Pacific Northwest. Adams clearly cares about supporting local farmers and artisans, going into great detail when describing the dishes and the origins of their ingredients. Even the dishware was created by local potter Steve Kelly. Tickets for the seatings are sold in advance and are in high demand. Each seating is limited to 14 and there is only one seating each night, Wednesday through Saturday at 7pm. *Update* Starting April 6th, Farm Spirit will offer multiple seating times throughout the evening, starting at 5:15 p.m. and going as late as 8:30 p.m. The seatings will be smaller allowing for more focus and attention to be on the guests.

When you walk in each seat has a menu and a place card with your last name. The seating a is a bit unique in that all guests are seated at a communal bar and the chefs prepare and plate each one of your courses right there in front of you. You know immediately that this experience is more than just the food. Farm to table has become somewhat cliched lately but not at Farm Spirit. You come away with a great appreciation for and understanding of the ingredients, the farmers, and the process that has gone into making your meal.

Above you see the 12-course menu starting with the most amazing bread and olive oil and ending with an incredible pumpkin seed ice cream. The real highlights are all the dishes in between. But, I’ll get to that in a bit.

To go along with our meal we decided to share the wine pairing and the house-made (non-alcoholic) beverage pairing. All of the wines were wonderful. One of our favorites was the Madeira. Neil and I couldn’t get over how amazing it was and how well it paired with the last two courses. As for the house-made beverages you won’t be disappointed. They were all unique and had such a range of flavors all of which perfectly complimented their dishes. Neil has been really interested in wild fermentation lately and spent a great deal of time asking the chefs about the process that went into the drinks.

Our first dish was this bouquet of herbs and greens and a little purple carrot with the most incredible hazelnut yogurt. To eat we were instructed to use our hands, dip, our bunch and enjoy. How was it? While it almost seems a little awkward to eat at first, that dissipates quickly when you’re blown away by the variety of flavors and textures in the dish.

Another dish to highlight was the Swiss chard that was made to resemble ravioli. It was fresh, crisp and the vegetal kvass broth had me lifting the bowl to drink up every last drop. The chefs do a great job of introducing you to the dishes and reminding you to let go of your inhibitions about eating with your hands or drinking up the last of the broths in your dish.

This next dish was another one of my favorites – the roasted carrot with burdock root puree. As a home cook, this was one of the less intimidating dishes. It’s one that I’m inspired go home and recreate, maybe not to the same caliber, but I could still do it.

I have to say of all the dishes this last one is my favorite. Tim’s bread was the star of the night for me. I could have easily eaten an entire loaf of the vollkornbort with the soured filbert puree and of those pickled onions and mustard seeds.

As the evening wound down the dessert courses are presented and your hot beverage order is taken. The offerings include coffee from local roasters Cellar Door, tea from Steven Smith, and a house-made hot drink. Once everyone has cleared their plates the chefs give you a warm thank you and a sweet breakfast bread to take home to enjoy with your morning coffee or tea. Such a sweet and unexpected way to end a perfect dining experience.

We enjoyed our meal and experience so much that immediately upon returning home that night we booked our next visit. One thing to note when you are purchasing your dinner tickets is that dinner is around three hours long. I know three hours sounds a bit daunting but honestly you won’t want the night to end.

Have you tried Farm Spirit? What were your thoughts? If you are a local Portlander or are visiting Portland I recommend getting tickets right away you won’t be disappointed.

Farm Spirit is located at 1414 SE Morrison, Portland, OR 97232. Find Farm Spirit on Facebook.com/FarmSpirit, and @FarmSpirit on Instagram and Twitter.

*I apologize for the photo quality – while the food was amazing the lighting was far from ideal for photographs!

Meal In A Box | The Purple Carrot

February 22, 2016 by Lindsay Ingalls 4 Comments

I would love to say that I thought The Purple Carrot plant-based subscription box was amazing but it honestly fell flat. We decided to order it after finding a 50% off promo code in my email. I figured for $35, yes the regular price is $70, that it was worth giving the family box a try. Then our box arrived.

The first recipe we had was for a spinach risotto with crispy chickpeas. I made the recipe per the directions and served it up to my family. First thing I noticed was that the chickpea and spinach ratio to rice was way off. It was like having a big bowl of spinach with a tiny bit of rice. Secondly the entire dish was incredibly bland. Lastly it was simply boring and extremely overpriced. For me to purchase the items myself it would have cost me maybe $20 and that would be with extras to use for another meal or two. Really not impressive or interesting.

As for meal two which was a chili with flatbread again one of those meals that was fine but nothing that stood out to me. We actually ended up going to purchase extra toppings per recommendation of a friend to really jazz things up. For me to have made this dish myself I could have done it for around $20-25 with ingredients for another few dishes.

Overall I found The Purple Carrot to be a bit uninspired and nothing I couldn’t have done on my own without a service. Now I know that my cooking standards/abilities might be higher than others but honestly I really don’t think anyone needs a service for recipes like these. Honestly considering they put the recipes up on their site each week you could purchase all of the ingredients yourself and make the same dishes for a fraction of the cost. You might have to and shop for the items and measure things yourself but honestly that will take you very little time. You could even have all your groceries delivered to you via services such as Instacart* for a minimal delivery fee and tip.

Maybe it’s that they don’t have any competitors since they are the only plant-based/vegan box out there or maybe it’s because they are brand new and are still working the kinks out but at this time I wouldn’t recommend this service unless money is no object and you just want it all done for you. I hope that over time they will workout the kinks and that it will become something great but for now I think it’s just meh.

Have you tried The Purple Carrot box? Thoughts?

Disclaimer: This post is NOT SPONSORED. I used a promo code to get my first box 1/2 off.

*Referral Link.

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